Man charged with poppy box thefts

The Calgary Police Service has charged a man in connection with a poppy box theft that occurred last week.

At approximately 8 a.m., on Thursday, Nov. 9, 2017, police were called to a gas station located in the 1800 block of Uxbridge Drive N.W., after staff at the store noticed the Poppy Fund donation box was missing. When officers arrived to investigate, it was learned that a poppy box had also been stolen from another nearby business.

Investigators obtained a suspect description through CCTV footage and distributed it to other officers working at the time.

Several hours later, another poppy box theft was reported at a gas station located in the 6400 block of Centre Street N. The responding officers recognized the description as being similar to the suspect in the previous thefts.

Witnesses reported that the suspect had left on a Transit bus and officers, with the assistance of Calgary Transit, located and stopped the bus. The suspect was removed from the bus arrested without incident.

Jesse RODICHUK, 29, of Calgary, is charged with three counts of theft under $5,000 in connection with these incidents.

There were a total of 27 poppy box thefts between Friday, Oct. 27, and Sunday, Nov. 12, 2017. Charges have been laid in five of these incidents.

In 2016, there were also 27 poppy boxes stolen and charges were laid in three of the incidents.

Anyone with information on any poppy box thefts around Calgary is asked to contact the Calgary Police Service non-emergency line at 403-266-1234. Anonymous tips can be left through Crime Stoppers: